


through the stars

by catmusicleaf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Tension, Awkwardness, Embarrassment, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi Chapter, Mutual Pining, New Planets, Not Beta Read, Oh no there’s only one bed, Original Lion Colors, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Slow Burn, Suggestive Themes, and it’s hilarious, i miss romellura so much, im sorry, there also might be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28946307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catmusicleaf/pseuds/catmusicleaf
Summary: Allura and Romelle travel to an odd, off-the-radar planet following the promise of possible living Alteans. Eventually, they get looped into awkward living situations and have to attend cultural ceremonies that extend the limits of their relationship.Once the mission is over, what will have changed between them?(and who will notice?)
Relationships: Allura & Romelle (Voltron), Allura/Romelle (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	through the stars

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyy look I’m writing another fic to fill the absence of fics for a specific pairing yayyy 
> 
> (I haven’t watched Voltron in a while so I’m sorry if there are some timeline differences or something. I just rly missed my girls <3)
> 
> //au where they all kept their original lion colors and allura doesn’t become the blue lion’s paladin

“...and the planet is in this system?” Allura asks, watching as Pidge’s fingers type furiously on the monitor. 

Pidge adjusts her glasses, and the light from the screen reflects off of the glass frames.

“Yes. In fact, it’s actually much closer than we’d first anticipated.”

“But how did the castle not pick up its signature once we were in range?”

This time, Shiro answered, “We’re not sure. Coran said it might have something to do with atmospheric particles that mask its signature.”

“Must be a good place for a hideout,” Lance snorts, and glances around, expecting someone to laugh, or at least _chuckle, jeez._

“We only just picked it up now because of altean energy.” 

“You’re saying there might be more alteans on that planet?!” Romelle butts in, eyes wide, “ones that Lotor didn’t find?!”

“...yes,” Pidge answers after a while, “the signature is faint, but that’s how we were able to locate it.”

“Well? What are we waiting for? We should already be on the planet! If we can find more alteans to aid in our cause-” Allura starts, suddenly matching Romelle’s passion, but Pidge cuts her off.

“We already have a planned visit at Olkarion, to gather all members of the coalition and come up with a plan,” Pidge says, raising an eyebrow curiously at the altean Princess’s sudden change of mood. 

“Surely you won’t need me there,” says Romelle, gesturing around to the entire group of Paladins, “you have the entirety of Voltron!”

“Me either.” Allura agrees, sending a burning glare at the group. 

“But what if it’s trap-”

“No.” Allura cuts Shiro off and surprises herself with the sudden change of mood. Before she can apologize, she blurts out, “This is my ship, I will take it where I please.” 

Now she sounds _childish_. Allura wishes she could take back the whole conversation, but then turns to look at Romelle.

Romelle is standing next to her, looking at the group with a fiery determination in her purple eyes. She turns and locks eyes with Allura, who immediately regrets ever getting out of bed that morning. 

Romelle flashes a small grin and nods, as if approving Allura’s outburst. And- _shoot_ -now she’s feeling her face heat up, and trys to return Romelle’s smile with her own, though it turns out a bit watery. 

Suddenly, Romelle turns back to face the group, breaking eye contact, and it startles Allura out of her daydream. 

“Allura is right. If we can find more alteans, then the fight against the Galra will be more in our favor.” 

Most of the paladins opened their mouth to argue, but no sound came out. 

“Romelle and I will go to this planet and check it out. We’ll report back when we can.” Allura smiles, and dares to flick her gaze back to Romelle.

“Fine…” Shiro agrees reluctantly, “I still think it might be a trap. Be on your guard and don’t let each other out of your sight.”

Allura doesn’t notice, because she’s too busy hiding her own embarrassment, but Romelle’s cheeks turn a little pink at Shiro’s words. 

Neither of them notice the look that Pidge gives both of them, framed eyes darting back and forth. 

* * *

“Aaaaand, ready for takeoff.” says Allura, flipping switches on one of the six vehicles the castle houses, save for the five lion hangars.

She’s wearing her suit and helmet, white hair tied up in a bun. Romelle is wearing her casual clothes, and curled up in the copilot’s seat of the spacecraft’s cockpit. 

“Pidge?” Allura asks, wanting to clarify something, “is Ulvara’s atmosphere breathable?”

“Yes,” Pidge answers.

“Thank goodness,” Romelle says suddenly, “I don’t want to have to wrangle my hair into a helmet.” 

They laugh. Even Pidge chuckles from behind the comm.

“Good luck, guys.” Shiro’s voice comes from the castle’s comm, and a screen flickers to life inside of the small spacecraft. The paladins (sans Pidge) are crowded around the screen, waving at them. 

“Bye!”

The craft zooms out of the docking bay and fires towards the planet. It has an orange-tinted surface and is dotted with bluish-cloud wisps. As they approach the planet, a purple mist becomes apparent. It encases the planet.

As soon as the craft enters the purple mist, it’s signature is lost back at the Castle of Lions.

Allura pushes the handles of the craft foreward and grips them tighter. Romelle sits akwardly in the copilot’s seat, twisting her hands nervously. A quiet silence fills the cockpit, and it makes them both uneasy. 

“A-Allura?” Romelle breaks the silence after a moment of nervous fidgeting, turning her gaze to meet Allura’s.

“Yes, Romelle?” Allura answers, prompting Romelle to finish her thought.

“What will we do if we find alteans on this planet?”

Allura is somewhat surprised by Romelle’s question.

“Well...I suppose we’d ask them to join the Voltron Coalition. That is a secondary goal of this mission.” Allura says, turning her head back towards Ulvara’s smooth, orange surface.

Romelle watches Allura’s gloved fingers drum against the handles.

“...I suppose,” Romelle agrees after a pause, but not quite satisfied with the answer, “and what if we don’t?”

“Hm?” Allura hums, turning her head to face Romelle, but keeps her eyes trained on the planet.

“What if we don’t find any alteans?” Romelle repeats, raising an eyebrow. Allura looks... _distracted_.

Allura pauses, and turns her head back towards the glass, again. She obviously didn’t want to think about what would happen if they came back empty handed.

“We’d…” Allura’s eyes flicker back and forth between two knobs on the spacecraft’s dashboard, “I guess we’d try and recruit the inhabitants of the planet itself, as long as they’re not loyal to the Galra.”

“...that seems reasonable.” Romelle remarks, giving her unspoken assent to the plan. 

They were now approaching the planet’s surface, and geographical features were becoming more apparent with every tick they flew. The purple cloud surrounding them was thinning out, and soon they had entered the atmosphere. 

Allura straightens out the ship’s handles so it isn’t slowly descending. Instead, the ship evens out and flies above the surface. 

“Keep your eyes open for any settlements. If we’re going to find alteans, we should probably start by asking if anyone’s seen any.” Allura declares and leans over the dashboard to look down at the whizzing ground below. Romelle follows her motion.

“Good idea,” Romelle agrees, and both girls watch as the ground speeds by.  
  
Allura clenches her fingers tighter on the handles when she realizes that Romelle is _mirroring_ her. Even if it is because she’d just asked Romelle to look, Allura still flusters herself over the tiniest details. 

Soon, they spot a town, not too far from where they first started looking. Allura yanks back the handles and nudge the craft down slightly, a little ways away from the town. 

Allura and Romelle stand up at the same time, and both realize within a split tick that the space between the chairs is too small for both of them to walk through. With a chuckle that makes Allura’s heart melt, Romelle grins and steps back, allowing Allura to walk through first.

Allura gladly accepts, so Romelle won’t notice her slight flush, and presses a button on the side of the door. The wall slides upward with a hiss, and a ramp descends slowly until it makes contact with the ground.

Allura removes her helmet once she steps outside, and her white locks fall out of them carefully constructed bun. As she gathers up the hair to fix it, she’s unaware that Romelle is standing in the threshold, at the very top of the ramp, mesmorized by how the sparkling white locks contrast with Allura’s hickory-colored skin. 

In a sudden daze, Romelle thinks, _no wonder she’s called Allura, she’s so...alluring_. Then, she snaps out of her daze and mentally kicks herself. Allura is the Princess of Altea, and Romelle is just a colonist who’s never stepped foot on Altea’s surface.

Romelle and Allura walk off in a stunning silence, all the way across the sandstone surface of this barren planet. Allura sweeps a gaze over the horizon, and notes that they seem to be in the center of a large bowl-shaped crater. The town approaches, and soon the outlines of the roofs and walls become more detailed, and several inhabitants bustle around the streets. 

When they grow even closer, they notice that the inhabitants are slightly more humanoid then what had been expected. One of these creatures walks up to Romelle and Allura as they step into the boarders of the town. 

Three giant eyes watch the two closely from bony sockets. A big nose rests below, but it's the normal mouth below that takes all the attention. A lazy smile reveals two eerie canines and a small tongue. 

Wide bent ears sit on each side of its average, squared head, which itself is covered in curls and has two small horns protruding from the top hair.  
  
Its small, lean body is slightly hunched over. Two long arms hang at its sides and end in graceful hands with short fingers, each with dull nails. Its legs are lean and are slightly bent, each ending in large feet. 

It wears a golden robe, which stands out amongst the other drab clothing that the other creatures wear. Probably indicating some higher status throughout the society. 

“Hello!” it says in an adenoidal voice, and it’s smile grows wider, “we are ulvarites , and we have not seen outsiders for many deca-phoebs. My name is Thylalle, the leader of this fine establishment. Welcome to the planet of Ulvara!” 

Many of the other ulvariets crowd around the two alteans, who are getting flustered by the lack of space that’s being given to them. 

“Clear out, ulvarites! Leave our guests alone,” Thylalle says and pushes the crowd away. He turns back to them, “what are your names?”

“I’m Allura, and this is Romelle. We are both alteans, and are in need of information.” 

“Information, say? Well, we might just be able to give it to you.” Thylalle answers, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. 

“Yes...we’re looking for more alteans.” Romelle says, a hint of urgency in her tone. 

“More folks like you?” 

Allura and Romelle nod, desperation now setting in. “Well, not that I can recall.” Thylalle says, scratching beneath his odd mouth.  
  
Allura and Romelle’s hearts plummet to the pit of their stomachs.

“You’re sure?!” Allura exclaims, almost begging. 

“Well, ulvalites like us live all over the planet. And, word travels quickly between colonies. I could send search parties out to ask around-” 

“That would be perfect! Thank you!” Allura and Romelle both shout at the same time, hope beginning to glimmer again.

“Right,” says Thylalle, eyeing them curiously, “...I suppose you can stay with us tonight.” 

“Well, we were planning to sleep on our ship-”

“Nonsense! You’re our guests! I won’t have any guest of mine ‘sleeping on a ship’.” Thylalle mutters to himself, tutting as he turns to walk further into the town. The crowd parts to allow him and the alteans to pass through.

“You’ll sleep in the guest room of my royal palace!” he declares after another moment of muttering. 

Both Allura and Romelle are too preoccupied with avoiding contact with the other ulvalites that they don’t notice the absence of a plural noun when there should’ve been one.

* * *

“Here you are!” says one of the guards who are escorting them to their guest quarters. 

“Wait, for b-both of us?” Allura exclaims, barely hiding her embarrassment. The guard nods.

“King Thylalle only has one guest room.” he answers gruffly, before leaving them standing in the threshold of the room. 

“...well,” Romelle manages in the extremely awkward and thick silence that has settled between them. Neither has dared to move an inch in any direction. 

“you can take the bed, I’ll sleep…” Romelle trails off as she searches the room for another sleeping situation, only to realize her attempt is fruitless, “...I’ll sleep on the...floor.” 

“Nonesense!” Allura finds herself crying, and cringes at the volume of her voice. “I’ll sleep on the floor. It’s cusioned enough, and I’m sure we can find a linen closet around here somewhere-”

“No princess of Altea should have to sleep on the floor!” Romelle interrupts harshly, wincing at the tone of her voice.

“What else would you have us do?” 

Romelle pauses, mouth open as if she were about to speak. Her eyes droop to the floor, and her arm moves to rub the other. Allura freezes and her eyes widen startingly in realization, and her gaze flicks to the floor as well. 

An unspoken solution to their dilemma is only one suggestion away, but neither is brave enough to admit it.

“Fine, you can sleep on the floor.” Romelle yields coldly, and turns to enter the room. Allura bristles. _The nerve of this girl!_

She hates that she ever liked the way Romelle’s hair bounces against her back when she strides, how her clothes hug her body perfectly, how her vibrant purple eyes stand out against any color…

Romelle stomps angrily towards a closet. _How dare that quiznacking princess even_ suggest _that they share a bed! Does she know how_ scandalous _it would seem? The questions it might raise?_ She flung open the door and grabs the first extra blanket she sees. Then, a pillow. Romelle marches towards a patch of floor that’s mostly empty and flings these items down. After an angry flourish and a glare in Allura’s direction, she marches into the bathroom and slams the door.

Allura winces at the sudden slam before realizing how it must’ve come off to Romelle. She sits down on the plush mattress of the _queen sized bed_. Allura’s face heats up at ever _suggesting_ that, and she places her head in her hands, exhilerated. 

Romelle on the other hand, had blown into the bathroom like a tornado. She stands now, hands on the rim of the sink, leaning forward and studying her own face. The blue altean marks underneath her eyes are hidden by the braid that was previously wrapped around her head, now coming undone and falling in front of her face. 

Her eyes are narrowed and eyebrows slanted angrily, forehead crinkling at the motion. Slowly, as she cools off, her forehead softens, and her eyebrows even out.

Romelle realizes that she’d toed the line, possibly stepped over it. Allura had just been trying to end the argument, after all. She shuts her eyes, and reaches up to rub her temples. After a second, Romelle decides to take a shower, to help her calm down even more. 

* * *

Allura, outside, has fallen onto the bed, exhausted at the argument. She rubbs her eyes and decides to change into nightclothes (and comfortable ones too, especially if she’s sleeping on the floor). That’s when she hears shuffling in the bathroom. 

Curious, Allura mentally asks herself what Romelle could be doing in there? She’d been in there almost ten minutes, and Allura wonders if she needs something.

A foolish thought, she would think after. 

Just as Allura’s hand settles on the knob, and other hand raised, preparing to knock, she hears the water of the _shower_ start running. 

Eyes widening in realization, Allura leaps away from the door and she backs away swiftly, before coming in contact with the side of the bed, and tripping over her feet onto the matress. 

With an embarrassed groan, Allura hides her face in her palms, wishing she could just _keep her quiznacking nose out of other people’s business_. 

A deeper, darker part of her mind wonders what would’ve happened had she opened the door. Allura mentally slaps herself and buries her face into the pillows, wanting to hide from the world.

* * *

Romelle relishes as the hot water pours over her skin, smoothing over goose bumps that had prickled around her body. She felt her worries deflate and extinguish after a few moments under the water. 

After a good, long, hot shower, Romelle steps out and dries herself in a towel, before coming to a terrible realization. _She hadn’t brought nightclothes with her into the bathroom_. 

She didn’t even have her other clothes, as she’d tossed them into the laundry chute by the mirror. 

With a flushed face, and a movement that draws the towel tighter around her body, she reaches for the doorknob and silently hopes that Allura had left the room…

The door opens and there’s a yelp, in a voice that sounds like Allura’s.

“I’m changing!” she shouts and all Romelle sees is a blur of dark skin before she slaps her hand over her eyes.

“What are you doing, changing in the middle of the room?!”  
  
“I thought you were still in the bathroom!”

With a grunt, Romelle feels her way to the closet and pulls out some sleeping number, then dashes into the bathroom. She pulls the door closed behind her, and presses her back to the wood, her face burning.

Allura quickly finishes dressing before burying herself in the blanket Romelle had thrown on the floor. Romelle had only been in a _towel_ , and she’d been completely _nude_ and-

Allura feels her body deflate as a mix of humiliation and cringe set in, and for the second time that night she buries herself in a pillow. 

Eventually, Romelle leaves the bathroom. Allura watches through lidded eyes as she strides quickly across the room and settles into the queen-sized bed. Romelle doesn’t dare make eye contact, and neither of them speak or move for the rest of the night. 

* * *

“...really?” Romelle asks in a small voice, feeling her heart plummet into her stomach again. 

“Really. The source of the Altean signature you picked up is believed to be the remains of a crashed ship, more than 10,000 years old. My people have looked into our archives and found that no one survived the crash.” Thylalle answers, his head bowed.

Allura’s mouth falls open, apalled.

“We have to keep searching, we-”

“No, Allura,” Romelle interrupts, placing an unsure hand on Allura’s shoulder, “no. There’s no one here. You heard King Thylalle, there’s no one here.” 

Allura turns and gives Romelle the same appalled face. _How can she say that_ -

“I want to believe that there are Alteans out there that Lotor didn’t capture, Alteans that survived the descruction of Altea. But, I’m starting to think now that it’s just false hope. We’re the ones left, and we have to work with what we’ve got.” Romelle spoke with determination, and a hint of sadness lacing the undertones of her voice. 

Allura desperately wants to deny everything Romelle says, that _they still need hope_ that more Alteans are out there. 

But she can’t manage to scramble up enough fantasy before reason takes over. Allura looks helplessly to Romelle, and Romelle nods, her eyes glistening, in a silent understanding. 

King Thylalle clears his throat, “If there is anything we can do to help, let us know.” 

“Please consider joining our Voltron Coalition. We could really use your help in fighting the Galra Empire.” Allura blurts out, her voice brittle.

“Hmm...our people have had historic run-ins with the Galra, and you two have proved to be very kind people. Yes, I think….Ulvara will join your Coalition.” 

“Oh, thank you, thank you, King Thylalle!” exclaims Romelle suddenly, breaking her earlier sad demeanor. “How can we ever repay you for your kindness!?”

“Actually, there is something. You can attend the Ulvarian Ball tomorrow evening, as honored guests and representatives of the Coalition. If my people are to get to know you better, then I believe it will be a good opportunity!”

Romelle and Allura widened their eyes. They still (technically) weren’t even on speaking terms, and they had to go to a ball together? When Romelle had asked what they could do to repay him, she hadn’t thought a _ball_ would be a possibility. 

After agreeing to attend the ball, Romelle and Allura went their separate ways after leaving the castle. But, the same thing was on both of their minds.

_How were they going to do this?_

**Author's Note:**

> So this is planned to be multi-chapter, so I’m not finished with it yet!! Hope that this first chapter is intriguing and I really enjoyed writing it! I’m not sure when the next chapter will be up, but it should be relatively soon.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! <3


End file.
